The Iliad

Homer

Books 11–12

Books 13–14, page 2

page 1 of 2

Summary: Book 13

Zeus, happy with the war’s progress, takes his leave of
the battlefield. Poseidon, eager to help the Achaeans and realizing
that Zeus has gone, visits Little Ajax and Great Ajax in the form
of Calchas and gives them confidence to resist the Trojan assault.
He also rouses the rest of the Achaeans, who have withdrawn in tears
to the sides of the ships. Their spirits restored, the Achaeans
again stand up to the Trojans, and the two Aeantes (the plural of
Ajax) prove successful in driving Hector back. When Hector throws
his lance at Teucer, Teucer dodges out of the way, and the weapon
pierces and kills Poseidon’s grandson Amphimachus. As an act of
vengeance, Poseidon imbues Idomeneus with a raging power. Idomeneus
then joins Meriones in leading a charge against the Trojans at the
Achaeans’ left wing. Idomeneus cuts down a number of Trojan soldiers but
hopes most of all to kill the warrior Deiphobus. Finding him on the
battlefield, he taunts the Trojan, who summons Aeneas and other
comrades to his assistance. In the long skirmish that ensues, Deiphobus
is wounded, and Menelaus cuts down several Trojans.

Meanwhile, on the right, Hector continues his assault,
but the Trojans who accompany him, having been mercilessly battered
by the two Aeantes, have lost their vigor. Some have returned to
the Trojan side of the fortifications, while those who remain fight
from scattered positions. Polydamas persuades Hector to regroup
his forces. Hector fetches Paris and tries to gather his comrades
from the left end of the line—only to find them all wounded or dead. Great
Ajax insults Hector, and an eagle appears on Ajax’s right, a favorable
omen for the Achaeans.

Summary: Book 14

Nestor leaves the wounded Machaon in his tent and goes
to meet the other wounded Achaean commanders out by the ships. The
men scan the battlefield and realize the terrible extent of their
losses. Agamemnon proposes giving up and setting sail for home.
Odysseus wheels on him and declares this notion cowardly and disgraceful. Diomedes
urges them all to the line to rally their troops. As they set out,
Poseidon encourages Agamemnon and gives added strength to the Achaean
army.

Hera spots Zeus on Mount Ida, overlooking Troy, and devises
a plan to distract him so that she may help the Achaeans behind
his back. She visits Aphrodite and tricks her into giving her an enchanted
breastband into which the powers of Love and Longing are woven,
forceful enough to make the sanest man go mad. She then visits the
embodiment of Sleep, and by promising him one of her daughters in
marriage, persuades him to lull Zeus to sleep. Sleep follows her
to the peak of Mount Ida; disguised as a bird, he hides in a tree.
Zeus sees Hera, and the enchanted band seizes him with passion.
He makes love to Hera and, as planned, soon falls asleep. Hera then
calls to Poseidon, telling him that he now has free rein to steer the
Achaeans to victory. Poseidon regroups them, and they charge the
Trojans. In the ensuing scuffle, Great Ajax knocks Hector to the ground
with a boulder, and the Trojans must carry the hero back to Troy.
With Hector gone, the Achaeans soon trounce their enemies, and Trojans
die in great numbers as the army flees back to the city.

Analysis: Books 13–14

The scene between Hera and Zeus in Book 14 does
little to advance the plot of the poem, as Zeus has already departed
the scene of battle and ceased to support the Trojans. However,
the scene does provide some comic relief. Once again, it is striking
how issues of life and death in the mortal world are so
often determined by petty feuds in the godly realms. Here, the decisive
turn in the battle results from Zeus’s libido and Aphrodite’s gullibility,
as well as Hera’s indignant mischievousness. Time after time, these
divinities prove that they are far from always rational and levelheaded,
that they are constrained by many of the same emotions and needs
as humans. Interestingly, Homer never passes judgment on or questions
the gods’ temperaments. Instead, he accepts their sensitivities
as fundamental to their existence.

Although the Greeks now rise again to power, the troops
rally under a temporarily reduced set of leaders. With the exception
of the two Aeantes and Menelaus, few of the most familiar Achaean warriors
fight in Books 13 and 14.
Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Diomedes have all been injured, and Nestor
now tends to the wounded healer Machaon; Menelaus appears once,
but only briefly. This new focus on Greece’s second string affects
the narrative in a number of interesting ways. First, it spotlights
the Trojan commanders; Hector, Paris, and Aeneas all play significant
roles in these two books. Hector’s leadership abilities,
for instance, come to the foreground as he must decide, with help
from Polydamas, first how to divide his army along the Achaean line
and second whether to retreat and regroup his forces. Similarly,
by keeping less senior commanders in the thick of the fight on the
Achaean side, Homer is able to focus on the leadership and tactical
skills of the main Achaean characters.

In the summary for book 4 it says, " Zeus argues that Menelaus has won the duel," while in the quiz the "correct" answer for the person who believes that Paris won the duel is Zeus. This is a direct contradiction and should be rectified.

I must disagree with Hektor's commentary above.
"His refusal to flee even in the face of vastly superior forces makes him the most tragic figure in the poem."

He did flee. THREE times... The only moment when he stands and fights is when he thinks he has a buddy by his side to back him up.
("Athene deceived Hector with her words and her disguise.")
Sorry, but that is cowardice (and he is the GREATEST of the Trojans... just saying...) He is a coward by the end of the book, not so different from Paris.

Answer: Undoubtedly, an epic is a great part of English Literature. So, in this way we’ve to know it first that, ‘what is an epic?’ An epic has been generally described as a long narrative poem, on a grand scale, about the deeds of warriors and heroes, kings and Gods. It is majestic both in theme and style. It is a polygonal heroic story incorporating myth, legend, folktale, religion, and historical events of nat... Read more→